The 12-inch Newtonian telescope.

This is the view of the 12-inch, looking north, with Comenius Hall in the Background.

The 12-inch Newtonian telescope was donated to Moravian College by Dr. Frank H. Levinson in 1983.   It is mounted on an equatorial mount and has an electric motor drive with slow motion controls on both the polar and declination axes.  It was manufactured by Cave Optical Company.  This Cave Astrola telescope has a rotating tube and a tracking telescope for guiding photographic exposures, as well as setting circles on both axes. 

Because of the weight and large size of its tube, this telescope is kept on the observing platform.   A special weatherproof container was constructed to contain the tube and accessories, whereas the mount is left assembled in the open, but is covered with a specially designed canvas cover.  To use the telescope, at least two people must lift the tube from the special container and install it on top of the mount after the canvas has been removed  to expose the mount.   It is not possible for one person to safely lift the tube to the mount by himself/herself.  Similarly, two people are needed to dissemble the telescope and store the components in their weatherproof containers.